Natural Flooring Goffstown NH

If you're looking for flooring that's environmentally friendly, reclaimed wood isn't your only choice. Two flooring products, bamboo and cork, not just for their good looks, but for the fact that they are harvested in a sustainable fashion in Goffstown.

Flooring That's Kind to Nature

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If you're looking for flooring that's environmentally friendly, reclaimed wood isn't your only choice. Two flooring products, bamboo and cork, have captured a lot of attention in recent years, not just for their good looks, but for the fact that they are harvested in a sustainable fashion.

Bamboo flooring technically isn't wood - bamboo is a grass - but it's a slim distinction, given that bamboo is as hard as oak and maple. Most of the bamboo used for floors is grown in China.

The species that's harvested - not the same one that pandas feed on - grows amazingly fast, upwards of 2 feet a day, and reaches maturity in just a few years. To harvest it, the stalk is cut and the root left to regenerate. The bamboo is cut into thin strips that are laminated into boards, which usually look different than hardwood because the strips are thinner. (Their appearance is reminiscent of the thin, on-edge maple flooring common in old factory buildings.) The boards are either nailed or glued to the subflooring. Besides being a renewable resource, bamboo has another advantage: It is more dimensionally stable than hardwood, meaning that it doesn't shrink and expand as much with the weather. Bamboo's natural color is light, but it can be finished with any type of stain. Bamboo is more expensive than oak, at $5 to $8 per square foot. Two sources of information on bamboo flooring: TimberGrass (www.timbergrass.com) Bamboo Hardwoods (www.bamboohardwoods.com) While it's getting fresh publicity these days, cork has actually been used as flooring for more than a century. Cork is the bark of an oak tree commonly found in the Mediterranean. To produce it, the bark is stripped from the tree; the bark grows back in about nine years.

Cork flooring is produced from ground-up bits of the bark that are pressed together in a resin binder, then formed into sheets. It is available in different forms, but among the most common is parquet tiling, which is glued to the subflooring.

Cork flooring is resilient and has excellent sound-absorption qualities, and it offers a unique appearance. Even though it would seem fragile, cork holds up well to traffic, although pads should be used under heavy furniture to prevent permanent indentations. Expect to spend between $3 and $6 per square foot of cork flooring. Two sources of information about cork flooring: Natural Cork Inc. (www.naturalcork.com) Wicanders (www.cork-flooring.com)

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